Fish tape leader



May 23,1950 w, JORDAN 2,509,100

FISH TAPE LEADER Filed Dec. 25, 1947 ymmmMINIMUM/wmf INVENTOR.' WM; (2,0005 Japan/v BY I;

Patented May 23,r 1950 UNITED STATESPATENT oFEicE FISH TAPE LEADER will claude Jordan, Burbank, Calif.

Application December 23, 1947, Serial No. 793,456

'Ihe invention relates to a fish tape leader fo fishing electric wires through a conduit.

More particularly, the invention relates to a fish tape leader having certain improvements over the sh tape leader described and claimed in application Serial Number 683,554 filed jointly by applicant and William H. Wait on July 13, 1946 for Fish tape leader.

As disclosed and claimed in said patent application, means are provided for attaching to the end of the tape a flexible leader which is preferably more exible than the tape. The leader is relatively short, i. e. of the order of fifteen inches, whereas the tape may be twentyve or more feet in length depending upon the length of the conduit.

Also according to said patent application, the

leader comprises a coil compression spring surrounding a cable extending between a head and a tail piece, the head having means for securing the electric wire and the tail piece having a swivel coupling for the end of the fish tape. The spring is held under compression by the head and the tail piece. In going around bends in the conduit, the leader is subjected to flexure and the repeated flexing has a tendency to cause the cable to break at its junctures with the head and with the tail piece. i

A .particular object of the present invention is to reduce or prevent the tendency of the cable to crystallize and break at its ends where it is joined to the head and the tail piece. This-is is accomplished by swaging on each endrof the cable an abutment preferably in the form of a ball to resist outward movement of the head and the tail piece to hold the coil spring under compression, while providing lateral play of the cable in the head and tail piece to reduce sharp bends in the cable when the leader goes around a bend in the conduit.

For further details ofthe invention, reference may be made to the drawings wherein Fig. 1 is a view in elevation of a typicalconduit, partly in section, showing the vimproved leader of this' invention in the conduit after it has been pushed to the far end thereof and ready to have the electric wires attached thereto for pulling them through the conduit.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view, partly in full lines, of the fish tape leader l Fig. 2, with the tape removed, with the central' portion of the leader broken away and with the head rotated ninety degrees from the portion shown in Fig. 2 and shown in section.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the leader I of this invention forms the terminal portion of a steel fish tape 2. The size of the tape may be .O60 inch by 1/8 inch. The leader I is more flexible than the tape 2 as shown by actual test, whereby it is more readily pushed through a conduit 3 having a number of bends indicated "at 4, 5, 6, and 1.

While other materials and dimensions may be employed, all parts of the leader I are preferably of metal and, for example, it may be about fteen inches long and have a. substantially uniform outside diameter of about inch. The leader is therefore short in comparison to the length of the iish tape.

The tape 2 is secured to the leader I by removing the tail piece 8, by extending the straight tape through the cylindrical bore 9, from left to right as seen in Fig. 2, by bending over the end of the tape to enlarge it as indicated at II), keeping the size of the enlargement I0 small enough so that it will swivel inthe enlarged bore Il. The tape 2 can thus swivel or turn with respect to the leader I and vice versa, which facilitates pulling electric wires through the conduit as the fish tape 2 can rotate or twist in going around bends without causing a twist in the wires pulled.

As the leader is more flexible than the tape, when the tape is pushed forward, the leader will pass along a reverse bend or offset easier than the tape, as the tape has to twist or turn at such locations. Without the leader, the tape does not twist or turn readily as the spring action of the tape forces one of its at sides against theside of the conduit.

As shown in Fig. 2, the tail piece 8 is in the form of a hollow nutv having internal screw threads I2 which mate with external threads I3 on a hollow bolt I4. The bolt I4 also has a lock nut I5 against which bears one end I6 oi a compression spring l'I. The othei` end I8 of the 'spring -I'I fits .around the shank I9 of the head 5. A leader according to claim 4 wherein each of said abutments is a hollow ball embracing the cable.

6. A leader according to claim 4 wherein said leader is of the order of 15 inches long and more flexible and shorter than said tape, said bolt having a hollow nut having a bore enlarged inwardly of its outer end and forming a swivel socket for an upset end of the tape, said nut extending over the outer end of said bolt and over the shoulder for said bolt and cooperating abutment on the cable and a lock nut on said bolt forming an abutment for one end of said spring.

WILL CLAUDE JORDAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date l 400,958 Seely Apr. 9, 1889 1,108,025 Thies Aug. 18, 1914 1,638,766 Grosvold Aug. 9, 1927 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 134,717 France Jan. 24, 1880 

